Adapter bracket for a cooler

ABSTRACT

An adapter bracket for a cooler has a body, a central fastening hole, two outer fastening holes, two opposite mounting holes and a hook. The body has two ends. The central and outer fastening holes are defined through the body. The hook is formed on the body. The adapter bracket with the central fastening hole, outer fastening holes and hook allows different coolers to be mounted on different PCBs and therefore broadens application of coolers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bracket, and more particularly to an adapter bracket that is mounted on a cooler for dissipating heat of chips and allowing the cooler to be mounted on different printed circuit boards (PCBs).

2. Description of Related Art

Coolers, containing heat sinks, heat pipes and the like, are mounted on central processing units (CPUs) or other chips on a PCB for heat dissipation purposes. A former conventional cooler has a heat sink made of copper or aluminum directly contacting a CPU to dissipate heat from the CPU due to efficient heat conductivity of the copper or aluminum. The heat sink has fins mounted with a fan to improve heat exchange with ambient air. A later conventional cooler further has heat pipes connected between the heat sink and fins to speed up heat conduction from the heat sink to the fins so that the CPU is cooled more efficiently.

A conventional cooler has a fastener mounted on the heat sink and fastened to a PCB to keep the heat sink tightly contacting a CPU in a socket of the PCB. The fastener is a clip or a bracket. The clip presses against the heat sink of the cooler and has two opposite latching ends hooking respectively on protrusions on a socket for accommodating the CPU. Alternatively, the bracket is mounted securely on the heat sink and has multiple through holes corresponding to mounting holes in the PCB so that bolts are mounted respectively through corresponding through holes and mounting holes to securely hold the cooler on the PCB.

However, PCBs such as motherboards are classified into several types to exclusively support manufacture of different CPU by different manufacturers such as the Intel and AMD. For instance, a PCB supporting recently marketable CPUs of Intel has four mounting holes defined therethrough respectively adjacent to four corners of a CPU socket. A PCB supporting CPUs of AMD has two mounting holes respectively adjacent to two opposite sides of a CPU socket. An early PCB would have multiple protrusions formed on sides of a CPU socket. Therefore, the fastener of the conventional cooler can not be adopted for different PCBs.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an adapter bracket for a cooler to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide an adapter bracket that is mounted on cooler for dissipating heat of chips and allows the cooler to be mounted on different PCBs.

An adapter bracket for a cooler in accordance with the present invention has a body, a central fastening hole, two outer fastening holes, two opposite mounting holes and a hook. The body has two ends. The central and outer fastening holes are defined through the body. The hook is formed on the body. The adapter bracket with the central fastening hole, outer fastening holes and hook allows different coolers to be mounted on different PCBs and therefore broadens the application of the coolers.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an adapter bracket for a cooler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an operational perspective view of two adapter brackets in FIG. 1 mounted on legs of a cooler;

FIG. 3 is an operational side view of the adapter bracket in FIG. 2 fastened on a PCB and mounted on the cooler using nuts and bolts;

FIG. 4 is an operation side view of the adapter bracket in FIG. 1 fastened on the PCB and holding the cooler through a clip hooking on the adapter bracket;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of an adapter bracket for a cooler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an operational perspective view two adapter brackets in FIG. 6 mounted on legs of a cooler; and

FIG. 7 is an operational side view of the adapter bracket in FIG. 2 fastened on a PCB and mounted on the cooler using nuts and bolts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a first embodiment of two adapter brackets in accordance with the present invention are mounted securely on a cooler (20) for dissipating heat of chips such as CPUs. The cooler (20) has a heat sink, multiple heat pipes, may have two pairs of legs (21) for connection and may have a clip (50) for connection and fastening. Each leg (21) has a mounting bore (212) defined therethrough.

Each adapter bracket is mounted on one pair of legs (21) of the cooler (20) by two mounting bolts (42) and two nuts (43) and has a body (10), a central fastening hole (11), two opposite outer fastening holes (12), two opposite mounting holes (131) and a hook (14).

The body (10) is longitudinal, has two ends, a central portion and two side portions and may further have two extension tabs (13). The central portion may be a block and is formed on centrally on the body (10) with substantially identical distances respectively from the ends. The side portions may be blocks and are formed on the body (10) respectively adjacent to the ends. The extension tabs (13) are formed respectively on and protrude from the ends of the body (10).

The central fastening hole (11) is defined through the central portion of the body (10).

The opposite outer fastening holes (12) are defined respectively through the side portions of the body (10) and the central fastening hole (11) is formed between the outer fastening holes (12).

The mounting holes (131) may be threaded, are defined through the body (10) respectively at the ends and may be defined respectively through the extension tabs (13). When the mounting holes (131) are not threaded, the aforementioned mounting bolts (42) extend respectively through the mounting holes (131) and respectively through the mounting bores (212) of the legs (21). Then the aforementioned nuts (43) are screwed respectively on the mounting bolts (42) to securely hold the adapter bracket on the cooler (20), as shown in FIG. 3. When the mounting holes (131) are threaded, the mounting bolts (42) extend respectively through the mounting bores (212) of the legs (21) and are screwed respectively in the mounting holes (131) to securely hold the adapter bracket on the cooler (20) without any nuts.

The hook (14) is formed on and protrudes from the central portion of the body (10).

The cooler (20) may be mounted on different PCBs having two or four fastening bores (31) adjacent to a socket that holds a CPU. When the cooler (20) is mounted on a PCB (30) having two pairs of fastening bores (31) defined therethrough, each adapter bracket mounted on each pair of the legs (21) is fastened securely on the PCB (30) by two fastening bolts (32). The fastening bolts (32) extend respectively through the side fastening holes (12) and screw respectively in the fastening bores (31) of the PCB. Therefore, the cooler (20) is securely held on the PCB (30) and tightly contacts the CPU in the socket.

The cooler (20) may also be fastened on the PCB (30) through the clip (50), as shown in FIG. 4. The clip (50) is flexible and has an intermediate section, two opposite arms and two hooking holes (51). The intermediate section presses against the heat sink of the cooler (20). The arms are formed on and protrude from the intermediate section. The hooking holes (51) are defined respectively through the arms and each hooking hole (51) hooks around the hook (14) on the central portion of the body (10) of one adapter bracket so that the intermediate section presses the heat sink tightly against the CPU.

With further reference to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of an adapter bracket in accordance with the present invention is similar to the first embodiment however has the body (10A) formed from sheet metal by a stamping process. The side portions of the body (10A) are plates extending from the body (10A) and each plate has an outer fastening hole (12A) defined therethrough. The extension tabs (13A) are bent from the ends the body (10A) and each extension tab (13A) has a mounting hole (131A) defined therethrough. The hook (14A) is L-shaped, is bent from the central portion of the body (10A) and protrudes upwards.

With further reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, two pairs of pads (60) may be cylindrical and are mounted respectively in the pairs of the fastening bores (31) of the PCB before two adapter brackets of the second embodiment are mounted on the PCB (30). Each pad (60) has a threaded hole (61) defined therethrough. The plates of the body (10A) of each adapter bracket are mounted respectively on the pads (60) of one pair by two bolts (41) extending respectively through the outer fastening holes (12A) of the adapter bracket and then screwing respectively in the threaded hole (61) of the pad (60).

The adapter bracket with the central fastening hole (11), outer fastening holes (12, 12A) and hook (14, 14A) allows different coolers to be mounted on different PCBs and therefore broadens application of the coolers.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. An adapter bracket for a cooler comprising: a body being longitudinal and having two ends; a central portion; and two side portions; a central fastening hole defined through the central portion; two opposite outer fastening holes defined respectively through the side portions so that the central fastening hole is formed between the outer fastening holes; two opposite mounting holes defined through the body; and a hook formed on the protruding from the central portion.
 2. The adapter bracket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting holes are threaded.
 3. The adapter bracket as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body further has two extension tabs formed respectively on and protruding from the ends of the body; and the mounting holes are defined respectively through the extension tabs.
 4. An adapter bracket comprising: a body being longitudinal, formed from sheet metal and having two ends; a central portion; and two side portions; two opposite outer fastening holes defined respectively through the side portions; two opposite mounting holes defined through the body respectively at the ends; and a hook formed on the protruding from the central portion.
 5. The adapter bracket as claimed in claim 4, wherein the mounting holes are threaded.
 6. The adapter bracket as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body further has two extension tabs formed respectively on and protruding from the ends of the body; and the mounting holes are defined respectively through the extension tabs.
 7. The adapter bracket as claimed in claim 6, wherein the extension tabs are bent from the ends of the body.
 8. The adapter bracket as claimed in claim 7, wherein the hook is L-shaped, is bent from the central portion and protrudes upwards. 